A Fringe for everyone - and those in-between
Friday, 12 March 2004
The ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ Fringe Festival's success is due in large part to it allowing people to break free from their normal structure in society and experience everyone as equals, says a renowned anthropologist at the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ.
Professor John Gray, Head of the University of ÐÂÀ˲ÊƱ's School of Social Sciences, says from an anthropological perspective, the Fringe allows people from all backgrounds to escape the structure of their normal lives and join in an event common to all.
"Most of our lives are arranged in states of highly complex and evolved structures, like family, work, religion and government," Professor Gray says. "The Fringe represents a chance to get outside of these structures, even if it's only momentarily.
"Attending the Fringe also promotes a strong sense of egalitarianism, that it treats people as equals. You might be sitting next to the Premier, or the CEO of a big business, and in the sense of the Fringe you shed your everyday statuses and are simply two people enjoying a show."
Professor Gray says the way people experience the Fringe can be explained in an anthropological sense.
"Many countries and groups of people have highly ritualised societies where a great deal of importance is placed on moving from one status in life to the next: for example, being born, becoming an adult, graduating, getting married or dying," he says.
"But to get to the new state from the old state, there is also a state of 'in-between'. In industrialised countries, like Australia, we also have events that have this 'in-between' character-the Fringe is one of them.